Reasons not to be cheerful: 10 of music's most depressing facts

Is Rihanna really on a par with Elvis?

12:27 4th November 2013

Most of the time the world of music is a wonderful thing. Hearing a fantastic new album and discussing with like-minded individuals how it made you felt can be a life-affirming experience.

Sometimes, however, the opposite happens. Occasionally a piece of news comes out that makes you question quite what the world is thinking. The news came out this week that Rihanna has scored a No 1 in the UK for the 7th consecutive year, a feat achieved previously only by Elvis and The Beatles.

With this is mind we decided to delve into the murky depths of truly demoralising music trivia. Be warned, by the end of this list you may just need to sit in a dark room and listen to Radiohead for about a week as penance for being part of the human race.

UK Hall Of Fame: In 2004 Williams was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame as the greatest British artist of the 1990s. He took his place amongst such greats an Jimi Hendrix and Buddy Holly. Can't be right surely.
Morrissey/Neil Morrissey: The Smiths frontman and legendary artist Morrissey has never had a No 1 single. Neil Morrissey, through his Bob The Builder, has had 2. How we wish we could fix this.
Black Eyed Peas: In digital sales, Black Eyed Peas hold both 1st and 3rd position for the highest sales of all time. 'I've Got A Feeling' and 'Boom Boom Pow' have shifted 15 million and 10.8 million units respectively.
Rihanna: Rihanna has now had a No 1 his in each of the last 7 years. Only Elvis and The Beatles had ever done this previously. To put this into perspective, artists who haven't include The Rolling Stones and David Bowie.
Kesha: No Beatles single has ever sold more copies than 'Tik Tok'. Clearly music's party didn't start 'til she walked in.
Jackson 5/Psy: If you take the combined sales of Jackson 5 classics 'I'll Be There' and 'I Want You Back' you still fall just short of the sales for K Pop uber-hit 'Gangnam Style'. A sad case of Pys over substance I'm afraid.
Emile Sandé/The Beatles: Earlier this year Sandé overtook The Beatles for most consecutive weeks an artist's debut album spent in the Top 10. Our Version Of Events was in there for 63 weeks, overtaking Please Please Me with an already impressive 62.
Katy Perry/Michael Jackson: Katy Perry's Teenage Dream spawned 7 No 1 singles. This success has been matched previously only by Michael Jackson's Thriller.
Glee/The Beatles: The cast of Glee have now had more singles in the US Billboard 100 than The Beatles ever had. God help us.
Bruno Mars/The Pixies: 'When I Was Your Man' was Bruno Mars's 5th US No 1 single. The Pixies never had one. Where is your mind American record buying public?
One Direction's Midnight Memories is the fastest selling album of 2013: 2013 has been a brilliant year for albums (Arctic Monkeys, David Bowie, Chvrches, Biffy Clyro and so many more) but the fastest selling? Yep, it was Midnight Memories by One Direction. The boyband sold 237,000 copies of their third album in its first week of release, eclipsing previous record holders Daft Punk, who shifted 165,000 copies of Random Access Memories in May 2013.

Photo: WENN.com